Coaches Corner for March 9th: Josh Atwell, Boone Girls Wrestling

Joining us on Coach's Corner here in KWBEG, going to wrap up the Boom Girls Wrestling season with Head Coach Josh Atwell. I always feel like when I talk girls wrestling with Coach here in March that it's been a while ago. And you guys went after it, obviously.

You get after it in November, Josh. And I'm going to take you back a little bit just to November because you had a lot coming back this season. Were expectations maybe a little higher this year than even last year? Oh yeah. I mean, they're always...

I don't know a coach or a program or a wrestler that the expectations don't increase every year the longer you do it. I mean, that's just part of the natural progression of the sport. You're looking to do better than you did before.

Sometimes it's big gains, sometimes it's little gains, but you're always looking to gain just a little bit. What did you think this group could accomplish, Josh, when you got rolling out there in November and kind of looking ahead? Okay, this is what we have.

This is what's coming up. This is what could happen. What did you think this squad could look like? Well, you know, my big thing I thought is we could put a full squad together. Yeah. And we dang near did that. We had one weight that we just couldn't quite fill.

But we could do that. And that was going to result in hopefully a winning season in the duels. We didn't quite get there. We finished 500. But hey, that's not losing season. So, you know, that's a step forward.

And, you know, I thought we'd get some more girls back to the state tournament and we'd get to get on that medal stand, you know, keep rising. And that all pretty much took place. And then, of course, I always put the academic goals on it. And they killed it in that area.

I've got to give them props there, you know. And it looks like we're going to get some real nice rewards that way. Well, I got to tell you, Josh, I remember back and not that not that this is the end all be all, but I remember the Woodward Granger invitational.

And you told me, gosh, it must have been last season or maybe it was early this season. But I remember you had this one always kind of circle just because of the competition that was going to be there.

That to me, along with a bunch of duels that came up as well in early December, it kind of felt like, Josh, this was a squad that really was going to surprise some people and really make Coach proud this season. Oh, yeah, for sure.

You know, as we got rolling, as we got some of the new girls, you know, developed and stuff, it was, you know, it was just I don't know. It was really cool to see them all work together, kind of come together.

And, you know, we may not we place more people at tournaments than we've ever placed before. We finished higher in tournaments than we've finished before. You know, the dual record made, you know, we went six and six on the year. We could have won more.

We lost some of the weather. Unfortunately, I'm not in control of that. So that always happens. They definitely in the statistical categories that I track, they we got better as the year went on, which is what every coach wants. You just want a constant, steady improvement.

Well, and I think something else that was and I don't know how you can improve this because I think you guys run it so dang well right now.

But tell me about the Boone Girls Invitational Coach and just what that means to you to have a home tournament and where you think this could go in the future. Oh, yeah, that was that was that's always a highlight.

You know, it's a lot of work for me and the other coaches and the girls because we've got a set up and stuff. But it's a labor of love, you know, that it's me and Dalton, the guy that manages it runs all the track wrestling side of it. We we were both kind of shaking our head.

We can't believe this is just the third year that we've ran it. As as just a rock, truly only a second year is just straight girls. So it it was like, holy cow.

And then I know we had a bunch of state qualifiers out of it from all the teams we bring in a bunch of state place winners.

And so it's really cool to see that develop and what it means the community, you know, it just gives the girls an opportunity to show out and showcase and and hopefully get some more of those young girls.

The start paying attention and being like, oh, maybe I want to try wrestling more than I want to try another sport and things like that. So it's a it's been a great asset to have to build and just build wrestling and doing in general for girls.

Well, speaking of building Boone wrestling right out of, you know, Christmas break, heck not too long out of Christmas break, actually. You and Ogden got together in one of the classics.

And man, if it goes down like this every single season, I don't know if you and Coach McLeod are going to be able to handle being on the sidelines. But you guys came out with the win that night. Thirty four thirty three. We had some just fantastic matches that night to Josh.

And what a showcase for not just Boone wrestling, but Boone County wrestling. Oh, for sure. You know, I got a lot of respect for that program over there. You know, I'm a Boone girls wrestling is going to take a little credit. They got one of our alumni over there help them out.

So maybe they got some inside information. But, you know, no, it's a great rivalry. You know, the thing you got you understand about rivalries is that they build you up. They make you better.

They make you bring your A game and that when you're far past it and not in it, you're going to learn how much you truly love that. How much better it made everything. Yeah, we got the win that night. I don't know how, but we got it.

You know, and sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. But now it was I got to give them all the respect in the world and all the props in the world because they they came out on fire and really kind of kind of took it took it to us in some places.

But we had some of the girls respond and wrestle great. So it was a lot of fun. Well, something that was easily in my opinion, and it's not a huge disappointment.

I think it's just too bad because Josh, we were going to have the first ever raccoon ever conference, a girls tournament this year and Mother Nature won again because she always seems to win. Josh, I know we're going to have it next year. I know it's going to happen.

But that to me is exciting for the future of this conference. Oh, yeah, absolutely. That just shows how much we're growing.

You know, that it just is constantly more things are coming in, more things are happening, more girls are going out, you know, in the competition levels just rising. If you look at kids, the kids, it's it's grown exponentially like crazy. And that's all helps.

And yeah, I can't wait to actually have this, the real first one, you know, Mother Nature is undefeated is when it comes to doing her job. So but yeah, it would have been really, really awesome to have, you know, I was excited for it. See how we perform in it.

You know, I thought we stood a good chance because we had a pretty damn good tournament team. So it would have been it would have been interesting, but I can sit in daydream on it all day until it happens. I guess we just got to wait. It'll be there.

It'll be here before we know it. Josh, senior class, obviously, I always say this about senior classes. They go through. They have all the, you know, the blood, the sweat, the tears, just like coach does. But they're always memorable. Tell me about this senior class.

How do you think you'll remember them? This is going to be the two girls, you know, Michaela and Cadence. You know, they're always going to be special to me because, you know, I didn't get a coach in their freshman year.

But, you know, they're the first group of girls to go through boom that got all four years sanctioned. And they did a great job. I can't I don't have it right in front of me, but they made it. The accolades that these girls got between the academic and the athletic is incredible.

The list is I can just say this. The packet I had to put together had to shrink down the font to fit it all on the page. That'll just tell you how long the list is. We love to hear that. We love to hear that.

So the future now, Josh, next year, I mean, obviously, we're going to have some real nice talent coming in. There's always the new that, you know, someone might move up, someone might move down. Maybe this happens. Maybe this happens. But you got to be looking forward.

And I know you deserve a little break, but you got to be looking forward to this summer on into, you know, the fall on into November. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm I'm looking forward to next year.

We you know, we're going to have a nice seasoned group of upperclassmen that have really had to wrestle at that varsity level. Pretty much their whole career. And they just continued to improve.

You know, I've been pushing hard in the offseason that, you know, girls get involved in other things. Go out for track. Go out for soccer. Go, you know, find another sport. And some of them have been like, well, I don't really like I said, it doesn't matter if you like it.

The point is that you're going to develop to use it to get better at wrestling, you know, and I've already got girls going to do a new state. They're wanting to do the Twin Rivers duels and some other things going camps and they're looking for whatever.

So and I'm helping them out in any way I can there. So it's cool. It's really neat to see them develop that old fashioned and that I want to get just a little bit better in the offseason, which will pay dividends in the end during season.

You've never told me, Josh, that more mat time is bad. So I got a feeling that this is going to be a good offseason. And it should, like you said, really open up some stuff coming up here in November.

And the funny thing is, it's the stuff that we don't see, you know, the stuff that we're not watching that makes it easier in November, December, doesn't it? Oh, yeah, always. And that's the deal.

Like I just tell them, you never know that it's like I got some girls have gone out for track and they're trying to throw in, you know, throwing the shot put in discus. And I said, you don't understand how much that's going to help your footwork.

You learn how to move your feet differently, move your body differently. Then we can get all of it working together at the same time. And you're just going to see you'll never know how that's going to transfer over. Competition to Josh, right? I mean, and to that, that's there.

Let's be honest. I know how competitive you are, but that that's going to help competition. So we love that. Keep that sharp. Yeah, it does. Well, Josh, thank you so much for all the the coaches corners, all the all the results, obviously, to really appreciate it.

Had a blast this season. Can't wait to do it again in November. Well, thank you for everything. Thank all the parents, the fans, the girls, you know, everybody that helped out with all of our stuff. And I really appreciate you promoting everything like you do.

It always it always helps all of it helps. And it takes a little bit of the stress off this this this old guy. That's Josh Willigan joining us. Boom Girls Wrestling here on Coaches Corner.